The OSCA novice basketball team, nicknamed the "Mighty Midgets," recently played their first official game, emerging with a win in an exciting matchup against a team from Stittsville. The final score was 28 to 24. The co-ed team of 8 and 9-year-olds has been practicing at the Hopewell gym twice a week since the end of September.
In early December, the players had an opportunity to demonstrate what they've been learning with an intra-squad match during the half-time break of a Carleton Ravens men's basketball game. It was an exciting night for the team, with the bleachers full of basketball fans to cheer them on and live colour-commentary of the short game.
The Old Ottawa South Community Association has offered a novice basketball program for several years. It is the first introduction many kids in the neighbourhood have to the game. The focus is on skill development, teamwork and fun.
The head coach of the Mighty Midgets, Matthew MacDonald, started coaching last year as an assistant to Leo Doyle with the Novice program. Basketball is a family affair for MacDonald, with his son a player on the team and his daughter a member of The Shooting Stars basketball club. The Mighty Midgets travel to Stittsville every other Saturday over the winter months. MacDonald says there is a shortage of novice teams in the city centre, so Leo Doyle, Paul Armstrong and OSCA's Dinos Dafniotis connected the team with the West End Basketball League.
Old Ottawa South residents who are interested in catching a game closer to home can cheer the team on at an upcoming tournament at Hopewell Avenue Public School. It takes place on February 4th, from 1 to 3 pm. The Mighty Midgets will be playing three games that afternoon, against two teams from Goulbourn and the novice team of the Ottawa Shooting Stars.
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Cheers,
Gwen